Her jaw drops. “Yours?” Her head shifts back and forth again. “As in both of you?”
Kafran nods. “Yes. Apparently. What’s your name, Little one?”
She covers her lips and giggles. That sound is even sweeter than her voice. I want to hear it every day for the rest of my life. In fact, I already dread the six months she’ll be in stasis while we travel to Eleadia. I just met her two seconds ago, and I already miss her fiercely.
“Mercy,” she says between what I now believe is hysterical laughter.
Kafran grins. “Mercy… That’s a pretty name. I’m Kafran, and this is Skarg.” He glances at her odd clothing. “What are you wearing? And why were you cutting the front of it?”
She sits taller. “Are you going to take me off this godforsaken planet?” Her eyes widen again as though she’s hopeful.
I’ve never heard of a female being grateful or relieved to be claimed this soon after arriving at Club Zoom. “Yes, Mercy,” I inform her because it’s the truth.
The sound of shouting behind me makes me jump to my feet. I keep a hand on my Little girl’s shoulder as I turn to face the door that leads to the front entrance of the club. My heart rate picks up. One of the voices belongs to John, the bouncer. The other isn’t a voice I recognize, but it’s male, loud, and angry.
“Shit,” Mercy mutters. “He found me.” She tries to stand but immediately trips over the front of her mangled dress.
Before I can react, Kafran lifts her into his arms, cradling her against his chest. The strange layers of material poof out all around her, nearly covering his face. “You know that voice, Little one?”
“Yes.” She wraps her arms around Kafran’s neck. “Please. I’ll do anything you say if you’ll take me with you.”
I step closer, sandwiching her between us, setting a palm on her cheek. “Relax, Little one. You’re ours.”
The voices on the other side of the door grow louder, followed by banging around, probably from furniture being thrown.
She squirms, trying to look over my shoulder. “Please… Oh God. Please don’t let him take me,” she cries out. She has a death grip on Kafran’s neck.
I’m jealous of the contact, but I’ll get my turn to hold her soon. “No one is going to get to you, Baby girl,” I promise her as I pull my phone from my pocket.
I send a text to Riand, asking him to come pick us up in the pod. The trip down to Earth from the mothership takes twenty minutes. It will be at least a half an hour before Riand can get to us, but it’s obvious that we need to move Mercy off this planet as soon as possible. Our mate is very distressed. That isn’t going to ease until we have her far away from whomever is on the other side of the door.
Loud banging on the door makes my hackles rise. I nod toward the other side of the room that leads into the main club. “Let’s go.” Whatever is happening, John will handle it. We need to move our mate upstairs.
After rushing to the door, I open it and step back so Kafran can move through with our mate in tow. The club is packed, and many females turn to look at us as we hurry past them.
Skirting the edge of the crowd, Kafran comes to another door, and seconds later, we’re once again mercifully surrounded by silence as the sound of loud music and screaming females is cut off.
I rush around Kafran to call the elevator. I hate the stress wafting from our mate. It’s palpable. She’s in a total panic, her death grip still around Kafran’s neck, her face buried against his shoulder. “Please…please…please…” she keeps repeating.
As we step into the elevator, I set my hand on her foot. It’s the only exposed part of her I can get to, and I note she isn’t wearing shoes. In fact, I’d say she arrived here barefoot since the bottoms of her feet are dirty. They aren’t just dirty, I note when I lift one. There are little cuts on her soles. She’s bleeding.
The elevator stops on Kafran’s floor. It doesn’t matter. All the apartments above the club are the same. We arrived together, and we’ve been here a week. There has only been one previous claiming that involved two men finding themselves fated to the same female, and that was only a few weeks ago.
Kafran and I have been friends for years. We live next door to each other on Eleadia, and we both work for the department of agriculture. Frankly, neither of us was shocked when Zack opened the door to his office a few minutes ago, letting the scent of our mate escape into the main room. We glanced at each other, chuckled, and took off to claim her.
It’s odd realizing that I’ll share my mate with another man for centuries, but if it has to happen, I’m grateful it’s with a man I know and enjoy. I don’t feel angry or disappointed. All I feel is relieved to have found her. She has already burrowed under my skin, and I can’t wait to hold her.
As we step out of the elevator into Kafran’s apartment, I meet his gaze and nod toward the foot I’m holding. “She’s injured,” I murmur.
His brow furrows as he follows my line of sight. Without stopping, he heads directly for the bedroom. I don’t blame him. Whatever the hell our mate is wearing needs to go, and she needs medical attention.
I don’t think her injuries are serious. Minor nicks. But I don’t want her to get an infection.
Kafran gently sets her on the bed.
Her gaze is wild and scanning the room. I can feel her elevated heart rate and scent her anxiety. Instinct tells me to grab her hand and bring it to my lips. Holding her fingers firmly, I flick my tongue over the middle one and prick her skin with my quill.
“Ouch.” She tries to jerk her hand out of my grip, but I don’t release her.
